


Code Red

by natashasbanner



Series: Prompts [36]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-07-20 19:52:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16144334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natashasbanner/pseuds/natashasbanner
Summary: Natasha gets injured in the field and loses her memory of the Avengers. The situation turns dangerous, but Bruce finds a way to bring her back. Two-shot.From the prompt: A fic where Natasha gets injured during a fight or gets amnesia or something and bruce has to help her remember? Or vice versa with the rolls swapped. Thank you so much!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please enjoy :)

Natasha ducked out of the way of another kick while simultaneously taking out the operative behind her. She only had a moment to breathe before four more men ran at her.   
  
“Is that all you got?” She muttered taking out two of the four men before they got close enough to touch her. The other two she engaged in combat while more agents ran to their aid.   
  
“Nat, how’s it looking down there?” Clint’s voice came over the comm.   
  
“I’m almost done here,” Natasha replied, taking out yet another operative. The men remaining standing gave her confused looks and she just grinned at them before taking two more out.   
  
“Good we’re gonna need you over here when you’re done.” His voice sounded strained, like he was struggling with someone before an explosion rang out over the battlefield.   
  
“On my way,” Natasha responded after she dropped the last man.   
  
She surveyed her surroundings one last time before heading to where Clint and Steve were fighting operatives on the ground. Another explosion sounded and the ground shook under her feet as she sprinted through the forest. This one was much closer than she’d expected and before she could react or slow down flying debris rained down on her. A huge piece of what used to be a bunker hit her square on the head, knocking her out cold.   
  
On the other side of the trees Clint and Steve were taking on a hoard of operatives while Thor and Tony were taking out tanks and big guns from above. The two men were holding their own, but they were going to some help soon, Natasha’s highly skilled and highly trained help.   
  
“Romanoff, where are you?” Steve called into his comm as he initiated the return for his shield. When no answer came for several moments he tried again. “Natasha?”   
  
“Nat, what’s the hold up?” Clint tried, the worry clear in his voice but at that moment he was powerless to do anything other than fight off the oncoming men. “Stark, can you get eyes on Nat?”   
  
“Kinda busy,” Tony answered taking out a bunker while being fired at by another.   
  
“Stark!” Steve and Clint yelled at the same time.   
  
“Alright, alright,” Tony said flying around the field until he spotted Natasha passed out near a pile of rubble “Uh, any chance either one of you could step away for a moment. Spidey’s down.”   
  
“We can’t,” Steve said as he Clint continued to take on the guards. “Banner, we need you out here.”   
  
“Code Green?” Bruce questioned from the jet.   
  
“Romanoff is down we need an evac asap,” Steve said while throwing the shield.   
  
“Where is she?” He asked, his voice was tight, like his jaw was clenched.   
  
“About a hundred yards from the jet. Straight ahead.” Tony supplied, landing in the field near Clint and Steve to help them with the guards with Thor not far behind.   
  
Bruce took a deep breath before sprinting out of the jet.   


* * *

When Bruce finally got to Natasha she was still unconscious. He kneeled down beside her as he pulled a few fresh gauze out of his pocket and reached out to press it to the cut on her temple. Before could even touch her head, Bruce found himself flat on his back with her forearm on pressed into his throat.   
  
“Natasha,” he struggled to say while trying to pry her arm away from his throat and get her off of him. His entire body shook from effort of trying to keep the Other Guy from making an appearance.    
  
“Who are you?” she asked in the most menacing tone Bruce had ever heard. Her eyes were ice cold as she glared down at him.   
  
“I’m Bruce. We’re friends,” he choked out, almost out of air and the Hulk less than a second away from making an appearance. His hands were free and he was able to signal the others before he reached the point of no return. “Code red,” he breathed into his comm and hoped someone heard him.   
  
Not even ten seconds later Tony came flying in and knocked Natasha away. Bruce took a huge breath as he scrambled backwards as he struggled to regain his composure and keep the Hulk at bay.   
  
“Code Red? Are you kidding me?” Tony all but shrieked as he approached Bruce to make sure he was alright.   
  
“No,” Bruce sighed, relieved that he wasn’t going to Hulk out during a situation like this one. “She doesn’t remember me.”   
  
They both looked up to find Natasha back on her feet blood dripping from her head wound and now her lip. Her deadly glare now aimed at Tony.   
  
“Oh shit,” Tony said his faceplate closing as he stepped in front of Bruce. Natasha charged at him and Tony held his hands up.   
  
“I don’t want to hurt you Nat,” he tried to reason with her but when she reached for her gun he knew that wasn’t going to happen. “Barton, I’m gonna need you over here, it’s a code red.”   
  
Natasha started shooting at Tony and Bruce and Tony shot the gun out of her hand. He didn’t want to use the repulsors on her, but he was saved from doing anything drastic when an arrow came whizzing through the trees. The electroshock arrow hit the charging Widow square in the back and knocked her to the ground.   
  
Clint appeared seconds later and kneeled down next to Natasha to check her pulse and retrieve his arrow.   
  
“What the hell happened?” he asked angrily looking at Bruce and Tony accusingly.   
  
Bruce held his hands up in a nonthreatening manner, “She was like that when I found her, but based on that wound on the side of her head I’d say something hit her pretty hard.”   
  
“Maybe if Barton watched where he was shooting those explosive arrows of yours,” Tony said circling around Clint.   
  
“Don’t blame this on me,” Clint fired back, standing to his full height. “Exactly how many missiles do you have in that suit?”   
  
Tony scoffed and went to respond but was cut off by Steve and Thor stepping into the small clearing.   
  
“What’s going on here?” Steve asked looking between Clint and Tony for an answer.   
  
“Natasha took a hit to the head and it would appear she doesn’t remember who we are. She didn’t recognize me or Tony.” Bruce supplied from where he had taken Clint’s place beside Natasha to press the gauze to her head.   
  
“What can we do?” Steve asked his face going through several emotions Bruce didn’t have time to interpret.   
  
“I don’t know,” Bruce answered honestly. “I can stitch her up when we get back to the tower.”   
  
Steve nodded and walked over to lift Natasha from the ground and head for the jet, Bruce right behind him. Thor followed, looking concerned for their teammate while Clint and Tony remained in their standoff for another minute before they too started the trek to the jet.


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the tower, to be safe it was agreed to keep Natasha heavily sedated. As an extra precaution they set up one of their hospital beds and monitors in the Hulk containment unit just incase she woke up and went after any of them again.   
  
Bruce sat beside the bed, tending to her wound while Clint paced outside the unit. Bruce paused the cleaning of the deep cut for a moment to glance at the archer. He continued to pace while he talked on the phone, his eyes locked on Natasha. Bruce could only imagine what was going through the other man’s head seeing Natasha like this. He had been the reason they all knew the Natasha they did today and seeing her reverted back into the monster she’d been made to be had to be heartbreaking.   
  
He went back to cleaning the wound. It was surprisingly deep and needed a lot of flushing before he could even think about stitching it up. While Bruce continued to flush the wound, he remembered the stone cold look in Natasha’s eyes when she attempted to choke the life out of him. He shivered at the thought. The sheer lack of emotion he’d seen there paired with the predatory way she’d gone after Tony scared the shit out of him. He was used to seeing her in mission mode where she was all business and ready for action, but what he’d seen in that clearing was something else entirely. He hoped it wasn’t something he’d have to witness again any time soon.   
  
“What did they do to you?” He whispered as he set aside the saline and picked up what he need for the stitches.   
  
He and Natasha had shared many stories about their pasts over the last few months, it built the trust they needed to perfect the lullaby and it was something to do in the wee hours of the morning when neither one of them could sleep. She’d described her past deeds, sometimes in horrifying detail, but even hearing the stories from her own mouth could never have prepared Bruce to see the Black Widow up close and personal.   
  
She needed quite a few stitches and just as he was finishing up he felt her shift slightly under his fingers. It wasn’t much but he knew she was awake. Bruce braced for another attack, but nothing happened immediately so he tied of the last stitch and set the instruments aside. As he reached for a bandage to cover the stitches, out of the corner of his eye he say Natasha hand creeping toward the instrument tray.   
  
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said taping the bandage down.   
  
“Where am I?” she asked jerking her head away from his hand. 

She snatched the syringe he’d used to numb the area around her wound and was sitting up with the needle held to his neck before he could blink.     
  
“That’s not a good idea,” he tried to warn her but she only brought the needle closer to his jugular. 

  
His hands were up in a nonthreatening manner and out of the corner of his eye he could see Clint getting ready to call the others but Bruce waved his hand for him to stop. If they were going to figure out how much Natasha remembered and how they could get her memories back, she needed to be conscious.   
  
“Who are you and where am I?” she asked again, this time her tone more menacing than before. “Answer me, or this will be your last breath.”   
  
Bruce gulped as the tip of the needle broke the skin at his neck. Natasha’s face was set in the same deadly glare as before but this time Bruce could see fear in her eyes. It made sense, even trained assassins weren’t immune to emotions, no matter how much they were forced to push them away.   
  
“My name is Bruce,” he said calmly lowering his hands to rest on his thighs. “You probably don’t remember but we’re teammates, we’re friends. This is our headquarters and where we live.”   
  
He watched her look around the large glass containment unit, her eyes lingering on Clint for a moment, before meeting his gaze again.   
  
“Why should I believe you?” She asked, shoving the needle a tiny bit further into his neck.   
  
“What reason do I have to lie? If you drop the needle I can prove it to you.”   
  
Natasha raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t lower the needle.   
  
“Lose the guard,” she said, nodding in Clint’s direction.   
  
Bruce shot a quick glance at Clint, who was staring him down with a look that said “don’t do it man”. He met Natasha’s eyes again and spoke.   
  
“Barton can you give us a minute?” he asked.   
  
“No way in hell,” was his response.   
  
“We’ll be fine,” Bruce assured him with a pointed glance.   
  
He saw Clint sigh before nodding. “I’ll be watching.”   
  
Both Bruce and Natasha watched him go and as soon as the door was closed behind him Natasha pulled the needle away from Bruce’s neck, but kept it in her hand. Bruce took the opportunity to wheel the stool he was sitting a few feet away from her before she could change her mind.   
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Bruce could tell Natasha was sizing him and the room up, looking for weaknesses and possible escape routes.   
  
“I’ve tried to kill you twice now,” Natasha said suddenly, her eyes on Bruce again. “And yet you don’t seem afraid. Why?”   
  
“The methods you chose wouldn’t have worked on me,” he told her honestly.   
  
Natasha raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. “I’ve killed stronger men using less,” she said, fiddling with the needle in her hand. “What makes you so different?”   
  
Bruce chuckled humorlessly. “You don’t want to know,” he said not entirely sure she’d believe him even if he did tell her.   
  
“Tell me.” It wasn’t a request.   
  
“I have this…thing inside me that when I get angry or stressed comes out. Let’s just say it’s not a pretty picture,” Bruce explained the best he could.   
  
“What sort of thing?” She asked.      
  
Bruce wasn’t exactly sure how to explain the Hulk so instead he gestured around the containment unit. “This was built to keep him in.”   
  
Natasha’s eyes widened slightly as she took in the cage once more, no doubt imagining the creature it was meant to hold. Bruce watched as her eyes flickered and a look of recognition briefly passed over her face.   
  
“What is it?”   
  
Her brow furrowed as she met his eyes. “What does he look like?”   
  
“Do you remember something?” He asked scooting a little closer, already pulling his phone from his pocket.   
  
“It’s hard to tell,” she admitted, letting her guard down for the moment.   
  
“Here,” Bruce said, handing over his phone where he’d pulled up pictures of the Hulk that Tony had sent him. “Is this what you saw?” he asked, unable to keep the hopeful tone out of his voice.   
  
Natasha studied the pictures of the green monstrosity for a moment before nodding her head. “I remember feeling afraid and then running and then being face to face with him.”   
  
Bruce hung his head and sighed, “That was a few years ago. We’ve moved past that. In fact you’re the only who really interacts with him.”   
  
“Really?” She asked tilting her head curiously, the needle held loosely in her hand all but forgotten.   
  
Bruce nodded as she looked back down at the picture and swiped through the next few. She only got through three more pictures before her hands started to shake and her eyes slammed shut. His phone and the needle slid to the floor, but Bruce didn’t pay them any mind, instead he rushed to her side and placed a gentle hand on her upper arm.   
  
“Natasha,” he said unsure of if she was going to lash out at him again but remaining by her side nonetheless. “Are you alright?”   
  
He started to get concerned and was about to go and find the others when all of a sudden her eyes flew open again and she whispered “Bruce?”   
  
Bruce’s eyes widened and he couldn’t help the smile that came over his face.   
  
“Nat you remember?”   
  
“Yeah,” Natasha groaned, bringing a hand to the bandage on her head. “What happened?”   
  
“Long story,” Bruce told her with a relieved sigh. “Let’s head upstairs and I’ll tell you all about it.”   


Later, when Bruce went back for his phone he found that the picture that had triggered Natasha’s memories was one of the one’s she’d taken of the two of them being absolute goofballs. It brought a smile to his face as he slid the device into his pocket and left to join the others for movie night


End file.
